MARINE KILLED IN FIRE DURING EXERCISE AT BASE

TWENTYNINE PALMS 
A Marine was killed and four others were injured Monday at Twentynine Palms when an Amphibious Assault Vehicle caught fire, the 1st Marine Division said Wednesday.

Cpl. Nicholas Sell, 21, of Eagle Point, Ore., died in the incident about 11:20 a.m. in the Bullion/Lead Mountain training area of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.

One Marine was in stable condition at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. The others were treated and released from the base hospital.

Sell, who normally was stationed at Camp Pendleton with 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, was at Twentynine Palms to support the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment during its rotation through the monthlong Integrated Training Exercise. Marine battalions preparing to deploy train with infantry, armored vehicles, aircraft and live ammunition during the exercise.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Sell was the second Marine killed this year at Twentynine Palms during the combat exercise that replaced Enhanced Mojave Viper. On March 11, Pfc. Casey J. Holmes, 20, of Chico, died in a bulldozer accident.

The assault vehicles, called AmTracs or tracks, are 30-ton seafaring tanks used to transport Marines from ship to shore.

In January 2011, a Marine instructor for the amphibious assault vehicles was trapped and drowned when one sank in the Del Mar boat basin at Camp Pendleton. Marine officials concluded that the death of Sgt. Wesley J. Rice, 27, of San Antonio, was caused by a mechanical failure on the vehicle, nonstandard training and operating procedures, and a lack of sufficient oversight within the Assault Amphibian Schools Battalion at Camp Pendleton.

Sell enlisted in the Marines in 2010 and served one tour to Afghanistan.